How to connect ChatGPT to WhatsApp
ChatGPT can already write a good reply to a customer. With Spaces connected, it can also read your WhatsApp chats and send that reply from your own number, so you stop copying and pasting between apps. This guide covers the setup, which takes about ten minutes, then a worked example, the notes that make ChatGPT's replies sound like you, and a simple plan for your first week.
What you need
- A ChatGPT account that can add custom connectors. OpenAI decides which plans can do this, and it changes from time to time, so check their help pages if you cannot find the option.
- A Spaces account on a plan. You choose a plan before you connect a chat account.
- The WhatsApp account your customers already message you on.
- A short note about your business: what you sell, prices, opening hours and the things you never want promised. You will paste it into ChatGPT later.
- About ten minutes for the setup, and a little longer to try it on a few real messages.
Step 1: connect your WhatsApp account to Spaces
You scan a QR code with the phone that has the number, the same way you would link WhatsApp on a computer. Your account stays yours, and you keep using it on your phone as normal.
Once it is connected, the account shows in your Spaces dashboard. Connecting does not send anything. It only means Spaces can read and send on that account when an AI agent you have added asks it to.
Use the number your customers already know, ideally one with a real history of conversations. A brand-new number is treated with more suspicion by WhatsApp, and Spaces starts no new chats at all from it for the first 24 hours. Replies to people who message you are fine from day one.
Step 2: add Spaces to ChatGPT
- In ChatGPT, open Settings, then Apps & Connectors, then Advanced, and turn on Developer mode.
- Create a connector named Spaces with the URL https://api.spacesos.com/mcp, and choose OAuth.
- Sign in to Spaces and approve access, then turn the connector on in a chat.
- Menu names and which plans can add connectors change from time to time. OpenAI’s help page has the current steps.
To check it worked: The connector page lists the Spaces tools.
You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so ChatGPT never sees your WhatsApp login or your Spaces password. If Spaces does not show up:
- Open a new chat and check the Spaces connector is turned on in it.
- Sign in to Spaces again from the connector, in case the first sign-in did not finish.
- Remove the connector and add it again, checking the address is exactly https://api.spacesos.com/mcp.
- If it still does not appear, OpenAI's help pages have their current steps, and our ChatGPT setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Open a new chat in ChatGPT, make sure Spaces is turned on, and ask in plain words:
- Show me my unread WhatsApp chats from today.
- Reply to Sarah: Saturday at 11 is free, shall I book it?
- Draft replies to every price question from this morning, and show me before sending.
- Which customers asked about delivery this week?
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that ChatGPT can see your WhatsApp messages before you let it send anything. Then try a draft, read it carefully, and only then let it send.
Good to know
ChatGPT acts when you ask it to in a chat. It does not watch your inbox on its own. For replies around the clock, use an agent that runs all the time, such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or Hermes, or set up a Spaces routine that sends set replies to set questions.
In practice, treat ChatGPT as a quick helper you sit down with a few times a day: first thing, at lunchtime and before you close. Each time, ask what came in, check its drafts and let it send the ones you are happy with. Customers who message in between wait until your next session, just as they would if you were answering by hand.
A Spaces routine is not an AI. It sends a reply you wrote in advance when something happens, such as a new message or a keyword. That makes it a good way to send "Thanks for your message, we will reply first thing tomorrow" after hours, while ChatGPT writes the real answers in your next session.
ChatGPT may ask you to confirm before it runs a tool that sends something. That is a useful check while you are getting started, so leave it on.
A worked example: clearing the morning's messages
Here is what a first session can look like for a small bakery that takes cake orders on WhatsApp. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| You, to ChatGPT | Show me my unread WhatsApp chats from today. |
| ChatGPT | You have four unread chats. Sarah asks if you can make a birthday cake for Saturday. Dev asks if you deliver to Kingsbury. Amira asks whether the sourdough is vegan. An unsaved number asks what time you open on Sunday. |
| You | Draft replies to all four using my notes, and show me before sending. |
| ChatGPT | Sarah: "Hi Sarah, yes, we can do a birthday cake for Saturday. Which flavour, and how many people is it for? We need 48 hours' notice, so please let us know by Thursday." Dev: "Hi Dev, we deliver within three miles of the shop, Tuesday to Saturday." Amira: "Hi Amira, yes, our sourdough is made with just flour, water and salt." Sunday: "Hello, we are open 9am to 1pm on Sundays." |
| You | Add to Dev's that delivery is £4. Then send all four. |
| ChatGPT | Done. All four replies were sent from your WhatsApp number. |
Spaces sends the four replies at least 15 seconds apart, so they go out over a minute or so rather than all at once. On your phone they appear in each chat as normal messages from you.
Notice that ChatGPT only knew about the 48 hours' notice, the delivery area and the Sunday hours because the owner gave it a note. Without one, it would have to guess or ask, and guesses are where wrong promises come from.
Give ChatGPT a note about your business
The single biggest improvement you can make is a short note that ChatGPT reads before it writes anything. Keep it in a document on your computer and paste it at the start of each chat. Here is an example you can copy and change:
About us: Rosie's Bakes, a small bakery. Open Tue-Sat 8am-4pm, Sun 9am-1pm, closed Mondays.
Cakes: birthday cakes from £35, 48 hours' notice, £10 deposit to book.
Delivery: £4 within three miles, Tuesday to Saturday only.
Allergens: we cannot promise anything is nut-free. Always say so.
Tone: friendly and short, first names, no emojis unless the customer uses them.
Never: promise a delivery time, offer discounts, or answer complaints. Tell me instead.
Always: show me drafts before writing to anyone who has not messaged us before.Update the note whenever a price or opening time changes, because ChatGPT will use whatever the note says. If a reply ever comes out wrong, the fix is usually one more line in the note rather than a long argument in the chat.
Before and after: what a better reply looks like
When you are busy, replies tend to get short. ChatGPT working from your note can answer the question and the next question the customer was about to ask.
| Customer asked | Rushed reply | Reply drafted from your note |
|---|---|---|
| Do you do gluten-free cakes? | Yes | Yes, we can make most of our cakes gluten-free with 48 hours' notice. We bake in a kitchen that also uses wheat, so we cannot promise they are suitable for coeliacs. |
| How much for a cake for 20? | Depends | A cake for 20 starts at £45 depending on the design. Would you like a sponge or a chocolate base? We need 48 hours' notice and a £10 deposit. |
| Are you open Monday? | No sorry | We are closed on Mondays, but we are open Tuesday from 8am. If you are ordering, you can message us any time and we will reply when we open. |
What ChatGPT can and cannot do on WhatsApp
| You ask ChatGPT to | What happens |
|---|---|
| Read today's chats | It lists the chats and messages on the number you connected, and nothing else. |
| Reply in a chat | It sends from your number, paced by Spaces. |
| Message someone who has never messaged you | Possible, within the new-chat limits below, and never in the first 24 hours after connecting. Only do it for people who expect to hear from you. |
| Look at a photo or voice note a customer sent | Spaces can fetch attachments for it. What ChatGPT can make of them depends on ChatGPT itself. |
| Send the same offer to your whole contact list | Spaces refuses the same cold text sent to many people, and WhatsApp's terms prohibit bulk messaging. |
| Reply at 2am while you sleep | It cannot. ChatGPT only acts in a chat you are having with it. Use a routine for a holding reply. |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Letting it send from the very first chat. Read its drafts for a few days first so you learn how it writes.
- Skipping the business note. ChatGPT is good at writing but knows nothing about your prices until you tell it.
- Asking it to "message all my customers". Use WhatsApp for conversations with people who know you, not for announcements to a list.
- Connecting your personal number when you have a separate business one. ChatGPT can read every chat on the number you connect.
- Forgetting about complaints. Tell ChatGPT to hand anything angry, medical or about money back to you, and answer those yourself.
- Answering the same chat on your phone while ChatGPT is drafting. Decide who is replying before you start a session.
A simple plan for your first week
- Day one: connect, then only ask ChatGPT to read and summarise. Check its summary against your phone.
- Days two and three: ask for drafts of every reply and send the good ones. Note anything it got wrong and add a line to your business note.
- Days four and five: let it send replies to simple questions, such as hours, prices and delivery, and keep drafts for everything else.
- End of the week: look back through the chats on your phone. If the replies read like you, keep going. If not, tighten the note.
Summing up
Connecting ChatGPT to WhatsApp through Spaces turns a copy-and-paste job into a quick conversation: you ask what came in, ChatGPT drafts, you approve, and the replies go out from your own number at a safe pace. It works best with a clear business note, a few days of drafts, and you keeping the tricky conversations for yourself.
If you want customers answered while you are away from ChatGPT, add a Spaces routine for a holding reply, or look at an always-on agent. Either way, the limits below stay the same.
How Spaces keeps your account safe
Whatever you ask, Spaces keeps your WhatsApp account inside safe limits: at least 15 seconds between messages, up to 200 a day, and 10 new conversations a day at most, with a gentler start for a newly connected account. If your AI tries to go faster, Spaces holds the message and says when it can try again.
New conversations warm up over the first weeks after you connect:
| Since connecting | New chats an hour | New chats a day |
|---|---|---|
| First 24 hours | None | None |
| Rest of week 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Week 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | 3 | 8 |
| After that | 5 | 10 |
Replies to people who message you are not held back by the warm-up, so customers get answers from the first day.
These are Spaces' own limits. They lower the risk of a restriction, but they cannot remove it, because WhatsApp makes its own decisions about accounts. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Pricing
FAQ
Does this use the WhatsApp Business API?
No. Spaces connects your own WhatsApp account by scanning a QR code, so there are no templates or per-message fees from Meta. That also means WhatsApp's terms for personal and app accounts apply, which is why the note at the top of this page matters.
Which ChatGPT plans can add connectors?
That changes from time to time. OpenAI's help page has the current list, and our ChatGPT setup page links to it.
Can ChatGPT message people who never contacted me?
Spaces holds new chats to low daily limits, and WhatsApp's terms prohibit bulk messaging. Use it for customers who know you and expect to hear from you, such as someone who asked you to confirm a booking.
Can I still use WhatsApp on my phone?
Yes. Spaces is linked to your number the way WhatsApp on a computer is, so your phone keeps working as normal. Replies ChatGPT sends show up in the chat on your phone, and you can jump in at any time.
Will my customers know it was ChatGPT?
They see a normal message from your number. Many owners say so openly, for example in their WhatsApp profile, and it is good practice to be honest if someone asks.
What happens if ChatGPT tries to send too quickly?
Spaces holds the message and tells ChatGPT when it can try again, so nothing goes out faster than the limits. Usually ChatGPT simply waits and sends it a moment later.
Can I connect more than one WhatsApp number?
Yes. Each number is connected with its own QR code and counts as a separate connected account on your plan. ChatGPT can then work with whichever number you name in the chat.